Reptile & Amphibian Forums

which is better to feed crickets or meal worms? and if you feed crickets do you have to buy them every week? or you freeze them, how do you keep them?

This is a matter of hot debate. There are people that will tell you mealworms are awful, and there are several well known breeders who only feed mealworms. The answer is probably somewhere in-between. You should try both to see what your geckos like. I have one gecko who does not like mealworms at all, and another that goes for both equally.

No matter what you decide to feed, they must be gut-loaded. Meaning you need to feed the crickets and mealworms lots of good nutritious food at least 24 hrs. before feeding to your gecko. Some people make their own gut-load. I use a mix of fresh-water flake fish food, Flukers Cricket Gut-load, and T-Rex Cricket Gut-Load mixed together in equal parts. The crickets swarm over it, and it must be working well, because my little guys have nearly doubled in weight in 2 weeks (I have juveniles). Be sure to have a source of water as well - a wet cotton ball in a milk cap or the Cricket water stuff (looks like jelly) both work great.

Mealworms can be kept in the refrigerator for storage, and taken out for gut-loading 24 hours prior to feeding to the gecko. Do not freeze!! They’ll most likely die.

Crickets must be kept in a Cricket Keeper, Critter Carrier, or small tank. They can not be put in the refrigerator. They’re pretty sensitive to temps, and will die if it gets too hot or too cold. It is best to buy enough crickets to last you one week. When you see you have enough for only one more feeding, it’s time to buy some more to allow for the 24hr gut-load period. I have 2 carriers, one for the newly bought crickets, and one for the old ones. Crickets can get stinky and grow quickly, so you’ll need to clean out the bottom on the carrier every couple days to keep the smell down.

Don’t forget to dust!! You’ll need to dust with calcium carbonate without D3 most days of the week. One day can be calcium with D3 if you have juveniles or gravid females. One day for a multi-vitamin (If you can get them to eat it! I guess they taste nasty!). You can have one day with no dusting at all. Make yourself a chart to keep track of which day gets which dusting, and it’s a lot easier.

It sounds like a lot to keep straight, but it really isn’t that bad. Just remember that well-fed prey = well-fed geckos!

I would suggest mealworms to you. You most likly will be getting crickets from a pet store and some times the crickets may carry a parasite. But if you can get some and succesfuly breed crickets then its pretty safe. Another bad thing about crickets is that if they are kept in the tank to long they will start to eat on your reptile. I feed all my leos mealworms and i have been doing that for a year. I used to use crickets but that got a little expensive (1 dollar for a dozen and my reptiles usually eat a dozen every 2 days!!!) and they always died fast. They also smelled horrible. Thats why i go with mealworms, if you put a gut-load in their contanier they will never smell, they are good for your reptiles, and most importantly they have a lot lower risk of carrying parasites from pet stores. But since they are easy to breed i breed my own.

"(1 dollar for a dozen and my reptiles usually eat a dozen every 2 days!!!)"

I mean 1 leo eats 1 dozen every 2 days, not combined. Sorry if there was any confusion.